For The Energy Impoverished, Hugh Whalan Is A Ray Of LED

In order to read this you've powered up a computer, likely turned on a light, maybe you're also charging your phone or brewing a cup of coffee. Every one of these actions is a small sip of energy that you take for granted. "In fact, you probably struggle to remember how many times and ways you use energy in a day," notesHugh Whalan, the co-founder of Energy In Common. His organization raises money to supply simple forms of energy — lighting, heat — to the billions of people on the planet who can't take energy use for granted because they don't have access to any. Whalan, 28, spent a year turning his self-funded start-up into a viable micro-finance loan business that will help 10,000 people gain access to energy in 2011. This is his story.